


The Way She Walks

by extra_Mt



Series: One-shots [19]
Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Inspired by Music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 13:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18918250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extra_Mt/pseuds/extra_Mt
Summary: Takes place after Misty whooped Madison's ass ;) Inspired by Stevie Nicks' Two Kinds of Love.





	The Way She Walks

 

The word 'love' has always meant one thing for Cordelia. The kind of love that Fiona taught her at a young age and Hank reaffirmed with his betrayal. Love that bruises. Synonymous to pain and self-loathing. And afraid of love, she has built a fortress.

But recently, a little, non-threatening bird has snuck in through a crack in the walls and made a nest there without her notice. A bird with golden curls and dirt-clad fingers.

Misty Day.

Cordelia has uttered the name before. Once when Zoe joined the Coven, once when Misty herself took her hand for the first time, and once Hank intruded in the greenhouse, begging for her forgiveness. Every time that name leaves her lips, Cordelia feels like it changes its meaning more and more.

"Misty Day," she says as she feels her way into the greenhouse with a cane. In her literal darkness, she imagines Misty looking up from the plants with her bright smile.

"Miss Cordelia. I thought you'd be in your room." Despite that, Misty's voice lacks the usual vigor.

But it is understandable, Cordelia supposes. Nobody can recover from getting trapped in a coffin so quickly.

"I couldn't bear to be alone," Cordelia says. "The girls told me you were in here." Sitting in a chair, she offers an apologetic smile in the direction of Misty. But there came no respose, but silence. "Of course, if you'd rather be left alone, I'd be more than happy to-"

"No, don't go," Misty says, "please. I'm just surprised, is all, that you even wanna be in the same room as me after what happened."

What happened. The yelling of the Axeman, the sticky feeling of the blood on her fingers, and the Sight of Fiona's death come flooding her senses. The lump in her throat returns, so she tightens her grip on her cane.

"What do you mean? You have nothing to do with what happened to my mother."

"Oh, no. That's not- I meant your eyes. You did that to yourself to find me. Zoe told me."

Cordelia fixes her sunglasses, making sure her hideous eyes are well-concealed. "Well, I doubt this would make everyone stop calling me the biggest failure, though." She forces out a laugh.

"You ain't a failure." Misty's husky voice comes closer. "Far from it. You saved me."

"You saved yourself."

Again, silence surrounds them, along with a sense of dread in Cordelia. She wishes she wasn't such a pathetic failure, unable to accept compliments or gratitude without self-degradation.

Misty lets out a sigh. "I was gonna come to your room, you know, after watering your plants." She pulls up a chair next to Cordelia. "Let me see your eyes?"

Cordelia's empty hand quickly touches the sunglasses. "You don't want to. They're ugly."

Still, Misty puts her hand on Cordelia's, slowly lowering them. When the barrier comes off and reveals her eyes, Misty takes a shaky breath. "Oh, Miss Cordelia. What have you done?"

Although Cordelia feels her lip quiver, no tear is able to fill her battered eyes.

"Stay here," Misty says, standing up. "I wanna try my mud on you." She saunters to the back of the greenhouse and comes back with a heavy jar of the swamp mud. As the lid opens, the pungent smell encloses them in an invisible bubble of reek. "There ain't nothing the magical swamp mud can't heal. Hold still."

"I don't know, Mist-" Cordelia feels the warm hand on her cheek first, steadying her face, and then the cool, thick layers of mud on her eyes. And when both of Misty's hands cup her face, Cordelia finds herself speechless. She feels bare and protected at the same time.

"Feel anything?" Misty says.

There is certainly something going on in her chest. Cordelia ignores it and shakes her head.

Then, Misty's hands move from her cheeks to her eyes, covering them. "Anything?"

The force of her white magic seeps through the mud and her scar tissue, so much it almost feels tangible. "I can feel your power, but it's not doing anything. It sort of passes through my wounds." She feels Misty's hands retract. "I'm sorry."

"I don't get it. Why does it work on Kyle and Miss Myrtle but not you?" Her voice grows louder. "It's severed limbs and a whole burned body. Why can't it heal a simple pair of eyes?"

"The concoction I made when I- Maybe some of it is still in the wounds and working against your powers."

"The concoction?" Misty says to herself.

The saving grace - at least, in Cordelia's eyes - is that the whole attempt happened and ended so fast that she didn't have enough time to get her hopes up. Failure doesn't feel so tormenting when there is no anticipation. But now, she feels bad for Misty. After a rather long silence, Cordelia hears her sob.

"It's all my fault," Misty says through her tears. "If I hadn'ta trusted Madison so easily, you wouldn't have ta lose your eyes all over again."

"Of course, it's not your fault." Cordelia reaches out to her in the dark, and Misty, still sobbing, takes the hand with her own muddy hand. "I would do anything without a second thought if it meant I could have you by my side."

It took some more time for Misty to calm down, her hand secure in Cordelia's.

"You are too kind, Miss Cordelia," Misty says in a whisper at last.

"No, I'm not. I just need to have my only friend around."

Misty caresses her hand as she responds with a hum. Then, it grows into a quiet giggle. "Sorry, I forgot you still had the mud on your face."

"Oh." Touching the mud herself, Cordelia feels her doleful frown turn into a smile. "Me, too. How silly I must look."

"Here, let me." With a clean hand on Cordelia's jaw, Misty begins to wipe it off with a towel.

There goes her heart in Cordelia's chest again. It leaves her breathless, speechless, and yet her whole being screams for more. She wishes she had a means to communicate this feeling to Misty.

"It's you that's kind," Cordelia says when her face returns to being mud-free.

"Hmm? Me?"

Cordelia nods, listening to the sound of water as Misty washes the towel. "I don't know how you do it after all the shit you've gone through."

"What do I do?"

"Keep your heart open. Let the world in. You make it look so easy."

"Well, doesn't that just mean I'm awful gullible?" Misty laughs. "But yeah, I don't know any other way. So, I do what I'm best at, I guess, and hope for the best."

"I wish I could do the same."

"Give it a try. I mean, you might meet someone that turns your life upside-down, in the best way." Misty's voice sounds rather dreamy, which makes Cordelia smile.

"Like Stevie?"

"Yeah, like Stevie, but ... you know."

Cordelia raises her brow. "Know what?"

Hesitation radiates from Misty as she shifts her weight from one foot to another. "You," she says at last. "I hoped for the best. And you came along."

In that moment, Cordelia realizes she has been fooling herself. What Misty is for her. Her only friend, her best friend. But also something else that could make her heart beat faster. The reason why the thought of her gone hurts Cordelia so much.

Misty is her teacher. She teaches Cordelia the true meaning of love, what it means to make sacrifice for love. And that love is the total opposite of the love she has known her entire life. It feels soft, like the feather of a bird. For the first time in her life, Cordelia learns how it feels to be loved for who she is.

As Misty Day walks around the greenhouse, Cordelia smiles to herself. The way Misty walks is distinctive, having certain lightness to it as if she is dancing- Maybe she is. And for once, Cordelia feels grateful for her darkness, because she now has a new part of Misty she can love.

**Author's Note:**

> That's it for all of the old work. Will take a week off and come back with brand new fic! Just a little info about the upcoming fic.   
> 1st week. Butterfly Masquerade; Foxxay one-shot.   
> 2nd week. The Secret of the Odd-eyed Witch; novel-length foxxay fantasy AU.   
> Can't wait to share with y'all :) 


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